That Time of Year

I don't know about you guys, but this time of year is kind of depressing for me--it seems like it was just summer, and yet here it is getting dark earlier and earlier. Soon I won't be able to walk home from work anymore.

It feels like crawling into a cave.

Maybe that's what Halloween is about--the darkness taking over and being mischievous. Of course later, when it gets to be winter, all the creepy-crawlies will have to die or hibernate, I guess. So now, while everything is dying but not dead yet it's time to say goodbye to the year--ghosts, goblins, former presidents, cat ladies, and Jedi knights included.

I think there's something about this time of year that's reminiscent of death, though, too. Here's a poem by Dylan Thomas that I learned in high school. The final lines:

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

After a year of catastrophic loss, including a tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes in Pakistan, and many other difficulties, now is a good time to think about whether we want to rage against the dying of the light, or name those things we're grateful for, say goodbye to what we've lost, and get ready for the hibernation -- a kind of forced sabbatical -- of winter.